What does antimale mean?
Antimale is an adjective used to describe attitudes, statements, policies, or practices that show prejudice, hostility, or unfair treatment toward men or boys. It functions as the counterpart of terms describing bias against women, and it is most often encountered in discussions of gender politics, media coverage, family law, and workplace policy, where one side may accuse the other of antimale assumptions or rules. Because it asserts the existence of bias, applying the label to a person or institution is generally critical rather than neutral. Writers use it both as a direct description ('an antimale remark') and as part of broader arguments about equality and fairness. The word derives from the prefix anti- ('against') joined to 'male', a term whose lineage runs from Middle English back through Old French to the Latin masculus. A closely related but distinct word is misandry, the noun denoting hatred of men; antimale typically characterizes concrete conduct or content rather than naming the sentiment itself.
adjectiveOpposed to, prejudiced against, or discriminatory toward men or males; characterized by hostility or bias on the basis of being male.
- Describing attitudes, behavior, policies, or discourse that show prejudice, hostility, or unfair disadvantage directed at men or boys.
- Describing something (a law, rule, institution, or text) considered to discriminate against or disadvantage males.
"Critics accused the hiring policy of being subtly antimale in its selection criteria."
"Some commentators argued that the draft registration policy was antimale because it applied only to men."
"He dismissed the article's sweeping generalizations about men as openly antimale."
The word 'male' traces back through Old French to the Latin 'masculus' — making 'antimale' a modern English compound built on a root over two thousand years old.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of antimale
Antimale is formed within English from the prefix anti-, borrowed from Greek via Latin, meaning 'against' or 'opposed to', combined with 'male'. The word 'male' itself entered Middle English from Old French 'masle', ultimately deriving from the Latin 'masculus', the same root that gives us 'masculine' and 'masculinity'. As a modern compound, antimale arose alongside other 'anti-' gender-related terms during twentieth-century debates over sex discrimination and gender roles, though its precise date of first attestation is not firmly established.
How antimale is actually used
The word carries a negative connotation when applied to people or institutions, since it alleges prejudice. It appears most often in social commentary, media criticism, and debates over gender policy. The hyphenated form 'anti-male' is at least as common as the closed compound, and style guides vary on which to prefer.
Easily confused with antimale
Misandry is the noun for hatred of men as a concept or attitude, while antimale describes actions, policies, or attitudes that display such bias.
Anti-male is simply the hyphenated spelling of the same idea; antimale is the unhyphenated compound form, and both are used interchangeably.